Natalie Coleman: How MasterChef winner 2013 stole the nations hearts with her humble nature | Daily Mail Online Share this article Share MasterChef champions nearly always divide opinion but Natalie’s cockney chatter and genuine passion charmed the nation. As she herself said at the end of the show, and with her usual modesty: ‘Yeah, the girl from Hackney done good.’ Although the final was filmed in December, the 29-year-old former credit controller and DJ is still reeling from the reaction to her win. ‘It’s all a bit mad,’ she says, peeling potatoes with the new Japanese knives which were her present to herself for becoming MasterChef. ‘It’s like Willy Wonka, I’ve got the golden ticket. It really is a dream come true. The Hackney-girl cooked a beautiful meal in her Grandfather's tiny kitchen Natalie cooked duck breast with potato fondants, carrot and cumin puree and port jus ‘I’ve been hiding away until now. I’ve not really spoken to anyone. I’ve been avoiding everyone for months. It’s quite hard. ‘I wanted to avoid people because it’s the best-kept secret in the world, isn’t it?

I didn’t want to let it slip so it was just easier not to see anyone. ‘I watched the final at my parents’ house. I wanted a low-key thing but afterwards it just went mad. My Twitter crashed, my Facebook crashed. Everyone’s been really, really nice. ‘I’ve had a couple of comments about the way I speak. That’s the only thing anyone’s been funny about, but I don’t care. I weren’t on Mastermind, I were on MasterChef. ‘I don’t speak the best of English but if people think someone’s thick because they’re from the East End, well, that’s about them really, not me.’ Natalie won the hearts of the British public and was universally liked as the winner of MasterChef Born in Hackney to Mary, a housewife, who now works in Sainsbury’s, and David, a black cab driver, she grew up in Chingford, Essex, and went to the same school as David Beckham, Chingford Foundation School. Her younger sister, Carly, 27, works in banking. Natalie says: ‘I got all As and Bs at GCSE, then I did A-levels.

I even did English Literature although that’s hard to believe when I speak like this.’ When she was 15, she briefly wanted to be a chef. But she went off the idea of cooking and dabbled in a career in accountancy before deciding it wasn’t for her. Then she worked as a credit controller by day and DJ’d at night at some of London’s best known clubs. Natalie began cooking when she moved out of home at 18 to Hackney. ‘I’d cook pasta, spag bol, kedgeree, roast dinners – home cooking,’ she says. But she didn’t sample all of her creations. ‘I was a vegetarian for eight years. I stopped when I was 21 because I weren’t in a good way, I were quite anaemic. I remember I went home one day and smelled beef, and the whole family stood watching me eat it.’ She began cooking for Chris two years ago and still has fond memories of the food her nan Bella cooked when she was a child. ‘She died when I was 16,’ Natalie says. ‘I’d come over and we’d cook fairy cakes and potato bread, nothing fancy.

There would be a big roast then, a few hours later, a big tea with corned beef hash pie and sausage rolls.’ As Natalie’s cooking skills improved she was persuaded to apply to MasterChef by an auntie – this was her fifth attempt. ‘I was refused all the other times. Every year I’d say I’m not doing it again but my auntie would say, come on! So every time during the competition that I said I couldn’t believe I was still in it, I meant it. I always thought I was going to be going home. Mum and Dad are so happy. He’s been telling everyone in his cab!’ She tried out her recipes on all the family although her main guinea pig was 78-year-old Chris, a no-nonsense Dubliner whose diet has changed dramatically thanks to Natalie.

Emotional: The champion couldn't hold back the tears after being named winner Proud moment: The part-time DJ beat 50 contestants to get the trophy and cried saying it was the best moment of her life Impressed: Both John Torode and Gregg Wallace believe the Hackney-born chef will do 'great things' Concentration: The finalists had to create a three-course meal for the judges Own kitchen: Natalie said she'd love to open a restaurant one day She now goes round every day to the flat her grandad shares with his disabled son, Danny, 51 – though Chris is not really one for fine dining. ‘I like plain,’ he says, ‘A bit of veg, spuds obviously, maybe some turnip, a bit of green and a piece of meat or fish.’ Yet he has tried nearly every dish Natalie made during the competition. So what did he make of teal with celeriac fondant and a blackberry reduction or roast grouse with almond crust? ‘She manages to make everything tasty,’ he says. ‘But she uses a lot of salt and oil. I tell her if I didn’t like it. She cooked something once with . . .

how can I explain, it was like sawdust.’ ‘Couscous,’ says Natalie patiently. ‘Oh that stuff,’ Chris continues, slapping his thigh with contempt. ‘Yes, absolute junk. Useless. Sometimes it was ridiculous. One night she came running in at a quarter to midnight. I was just going to bed and she said no, you’ve got to try this. One day I’d had a three-course dinner by midday.’ The final was the first time Chris had watched the show. ‘It’s quite good,’ he says. ‘Your man’s a bit over the top, the bald one. He never uses a word when you can drum a sentence in instead.’ But he felt Natalie was in with a shout. ‘I thought she had a fair chance.

If they’d been running a book on it, I’d have put a bet on her.’ Deliberating: John and Gregg had nothing but good things to say about her menu Starter and main: Natalie served lobster tail, accompanied by compressed fennel, and, roast pork belly, pork tenderloin and a scotch egg served with a pomme puree, caramelised shallots and two sauces Dessert: Vanilla chocolate panna cotta topped with a tempered bitter chocolate tuile with caramelised pears and a trio of hazelnut crumble biscuits Natalie says she owes a lot to Chris, as he was her most valued critic. She regularly entertained the judges with tales of her grandad and his love of pies, so much so he has since gathered quite a following among her Twitter fans. ‘I tried everything out on Grandad,’ she says, as she delicately smears carrot and cumin puree on to a plate. ‘He was better than my mum. She won’t eat anything. She won’t eat pigeon, she says they’re like the ones in Trafalgar Square. ‘But I’ve got her and me dad to eat quail, partridge, duck and fennel.

I’d never eaten fennel myself until a year and a half ago.’ It has been a steep learning curve. When she started on the show, Natalie had never cooked a partridge and used to think the only thing cooked on a spit was a kebab. But throughout the eight-week competition her dishes consistently impressed the judges, John Torode and Gregg Wallace – even though by the time they are served the contestants’ dishes, the food is nearly cold. ‘Oh, John and Gregg are used to eating food that’s cold,’ Natalie laughs. ‘It has to be filmed first and then they spend about 20 minutes with each person so none of it’s hot by the time they eat it.’ Natalie revealed how the intensity of the competition began to take its toll on her. ‘I did cry quite a bit but they edited it all out. And I was only sleeping two or three hours a night, I was so nervous, I’d keep waking up with Gregg Wallace in my head – that’s not good is it? ‘I didn’t see friends, I stopped listening to music, drinking, anything. I didn’t watch TV, nothing.’ And she says a bad knife injury nearly scuppered her chances.

‘The night before we cooked for the critics I was filleting a sea bream, I chopped into me thumb. Grandad had to take me to hospital. It was pouring with blood for about 45 minutes. It hurt the next day but I just got on with it.’ She seems far tougher than the boys who took part. While they have decided they want to work on the business side of food, Natalie has only one ambition. ‘Why go on MasterChef unless you want to be a chef? Hopefully I’ll get to work in some cool kitchens. ‘I don’t want to move though. People have said if it meant working somewhere really good would you leave but I don’t want to move.

What about Grandad?’ MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman on being crowned third female champion: 'I can keep up with boy banter' | The Independent MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman on being crowned third female champion: 'I can keep up with boy banter' Friday 3 May 2013 10:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman on being crowned third female champion: 'I can keep up with boy banter' MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman on being crowned third female champion: 'I can keep up with boy banter' 1/4 MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman Shine TV 2/4 Natlie Coleman's winning MasterChef 2013 starter: Lobster Tail, accompanied by compressed Fennel, a Fennel puree and shavings, dressed with an Orange gel and Beurre Blanc, and Lobster oil.

BBC/ Shine TV 3/4 Natalie Coleman's winning MasterChef main course of Roast Pork Belly, Pork Tenderloin and a Black Pudding Quails Scotch Egg, served with a Pomme Puree, Caramalised Shallots and two sauces – an Apple sauce and a Honey Mustard. BBC/ Shine TV 4/4 Natalie Coleman's wining MasterChef 2013 dessert of Vanilla Chocolate Panna Cotta topped with a tempered Bitter Chocolate Tuile with Caramelised Pears and a Trio of Hazelnut Crumble Biscuits. BBC/ Shine TV MasterChef 2013 winner Natalie Coleman Credit controller and part time DJ Natalie Coleman has become the third woman to win MasterChef after beating Welshmen Larkin Cen and Dale Williams in the final. Natalie is only the third woman to win the series, following 2005 winner Thomasina Miers and Shelina Permalloo who took home the title last year. Although professional cooking can be a man’s world, self-professed “proper cockney” Coleman was not deterred. “I can deal with the boy banter, I’m quite a tomboy anyway,” she says.

“There are quite a lot of strong female chefs to look up to like Clare Smyth and Angela Hartnett. It’s whether you’re willing to make a sacrifice as a woman. I get on really well with guys, I feel comfortable around them” she added. Natalie says her ambition now is to get a job working in a professional kitchen. She has quit her “nine-to-five Dolly Parton” job in finance to follow her dream and hopes that her MasterChef win will attract some offers. The 29-year-old impressed judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her lobster tail starter accompanied with fennel ; a main of roast pork belly with quail’s scotch egg, pomme puree and caramelised shallots ; and a vanilla panna cotta accompanied by a chocolate tuile, caramelised pears and a trio of hazelnut biscuits . The inspiration for her main course, she says, came from a traditional British roast. “I don’t think anyone’s cooked a ponce-d up British roast dinner on a MasterChef final before! But it’s the most British dish you can cook apart from fish and chips.

I thought: go for it.” Natalie has won fans throughout the series with her down-to-earth personality and cockney accent, although the latter has attracted a few negative comments. “I know some people say I sound like a reject off of EastEnders, but do you know what, I don’t actually care. “I wasn’t on MasterMind, I was on MasterChef. Like I said on the show, it’s a good job they’re judging cooking and not speaking because I wouldn’t have got very far.” Judges John and Gregg have said judging this year’s competition has been the toughest so far, and Natalie admits she was intimidated by her fellow finalists Larkin and Dale. “Larkin is like a mad Chinese Heston and when he’s on form he’s dangerous. I first met him when he cooked his paella dish [with citrus foam and guinea fowl]. I was sort of shaking, thinking there’s no way in hell I was going to beat him. “I met Dale on the same day and his food wouldn’t look out of place in a fine dining restaurant,” she says. But Natalie remains humble despite her win. Her main ambition is to work in a kitchen, not to open her own restaurant.

“People walk out of this competition thinking they can open a restaurant straight away, it’s illusions. You can’t just come out of this and do that. You’ve got to learn and work hard before you can.” Natalie will be appearing at the BBC Good Food Show Summer which takes place at the NEC, Birmingham in June; the book MasterChef: The Finalists is due out in October 2013. More about: MasterChef winner Natalie Coleman to join Marcus Wareing in his kitchen - Mirror Online TV MasterChef winner Natalie Coleman to join Marcus Wareing in his kitchen The 29-year-old Londoner’s talent impressed the top chef so much he has invited her to join him at The Berkeley Share MasterChef: Natalie Coleman (Photo: BBC) Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email MasterChef winner Natalie Coleman will cook alongside double Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing in his restaurant’s kitchen. The 29-year-old Londoner’s talent impressed the top chef so much he has invited her to join him at The Berkeley in London’s Knightsbridge.

Last night Natalie told how much she is looking forward to her new life in cooking after quitting her job in credit control two weeks ago. She said: “I want to work in a kitchen and Marcus Wareing taking me on would be a dream come true. “I think I would be able to nail the final details which would really make me stand out “I cooked him chocolate fondant and teal and he praised me – it was one of my highlights of the show. “He is a two-star chef and he wants perfection and that is the moment I seemed to separate from the two other finalists Larkin and Dale. “I have a wish list of chefs I want to work with like a child's Christmas list including Nathan Outlaw, Angela Harnett and at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.” In the final episodes of the BBC show viewers saw a steely eyed Wareing dub Larkin Cen's food appalling and Dale Williams food “as far from fine dining as the North Pole to South Pole”. Understandably on a high after winning watched by 6.5million viewers she is not scared by the demands of a top kitchen and has been dying to tell the world she won since being sworn to secret back in December.

She said: “The average is 14 hours days, if you are going to do something you love you have to put the work in and the time flies by. “I packed up work two weeks ago and have been twiddling my thumbs waiting till I could tell everyone I won.” She has treated herself to some Japanese knives as reward for now and has one eye on a ten year plan where she opens a gastro-pub run by her family where she cooks her distinctive hearty food with a twist. She also wants to write a recipe book to bring healthy easy dishes for families on a budget to encourage children to get into cooking. She said: “I might not have grown up on a farm but we had fresh vegetables and fresh fruit every day at home and I ate every bit on my plate. “I was brought up on good home cooked food. “I think kids today are too picky and I would like to see that change.” Natalie picked up a huge army of fans thanks to her down to earth straight-talking East End charm – her Twitter followers shot up by 16,000 during the final show on Thursday night.

View gallery Speaking as she cooked for Wendy Wilson, 60, from Worthing, who won a Sunday Mirror competition to judge some of Natalie's dishes, she said: “I am aware I don't know it all by a long way but I want to learn. “You can't run before you can walk and that is why working in a top restaurant is a priority. “I've quit my job and am packing up DJing – chances like this are once in a lifetime.” The winning dish – fennel puree, sea bass, crab bon bons, compressed fennel, shaved fennel, cauliflower and celeriac mash with sauce vierge – can be tried at the MasterChef restaurant at the BBC Good Food show later this year. Despite her immediate plans to join the kitchen on a top chef Natalie says her granddad, Chris, whom she used as a nightly guinea pig to improve her cooking skills need not worry about going hungry.

She laughs: “It doesn't matter if I'm doing 14 hours days I'll make sure he is alright – there is always time for cooking.” Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Natalie Coleman, MasterChef winner: Five things you need to know | News | The Week UK email NATALIE COLEMAN, 29, has won the BBC's amateur cooking competition, MasterChef, in what the Daily Telegraph described as an "absurdly intense" finale. Coleman, from Hackney, East London, beat 50 rivals to the title (not to mention the 4000 people who applied to be on the show), to defeat fellow finalists Dale Williams and Larkin Cen. Afterwards, Coleman admitted "This is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life." Here are five things you may not know about the cockney cook: Her winning meal involved the humble scotch egg: The final challenge was to prepare a menu for the show's hosts, Gregg Wallace and John Torode. Natalie's three course menu included lobster and fennel, pork belly and scotch egg.

Torode said Coleman understand "great food" but also "cooks for the people..." She is a part-time DJ: Coleman said had considered a career in catering when she was a teenager, "but then I went off the idea and wanted to be a PE teacher, then a firefighter." She finally settled on a career in finance, "because I'm good at maths". She spins disks at London clubs as a part-time job and is known for her "unique style of driving minimal house, blended with playful techno." Coleman now hopes to get a job in a professional kitchen. She credits her success to cooking for her grandfather: Coleman said she began experimenting with recipes while cooking every day for her grandfather and her disabled uncle. "My nan died when I was 16. She was a wonderful cook and used to live with my uncle and grandfather and fed them." Coleman explained she was fed up with seeing her relatives’ "freezer full of frozen pies", so decided to provide them with better nutrition. She is only the third woman to win: MasterChef has run for nine years but two women have won prior to Coleman. Thomasina Miers came first in 2005 and Shelina Permalloo took home the prize last year.

Although professional cooking is dominated by men, Coleman says she is not deterred. "I can deal with the boy banter, I’m quite a tomboy anyway," she explained. She was involved a fatal accident: Coleman was still at teenager when a ride on the back of a friend's motorcycle turned to tragedy, The Sun reports. The bike she hitched a ride on crashed into Robin Bull, 32, and his fiancée Sarah Coles, dragging the couple 16 metres. Bull died the next day from his injuries and Cole spent weeks in intensive care. Coleman's friend Allen Shord, who was driving the bike, was drunk at the time and sentenced to three years in jail. Coleman says she is still wracked with guilt about the incident, saying "it doesn't go away." Sign up for our daily newsletter Newsletter Hackney DJ Natalie Coleman on winning Masterchef - BBC News BBC News Media playback is unsupported on your device Hackney DJ Natalie Coleman on winning Masterchef 3 May 2013 Last updated at 22:10 BST Masterchef champion Natalie Coleman says it "feels amazing" to have won the BBC One cooking programme competition.

Judge John Torode said she was a popular winner as people could relate to her East End roots. Footage courtesy of Masterchef, BBC One. Masterchef 2013: Natalie Coleman ecstatic over "fairytale win" - Mirror Online Winner: Nat's food did the trick (Photo: BBC) Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Natalie Coleman has been crowned the winner of MasterChef and is now planning a career in cooking. After an incredible eight weeks of challenges, Natalie was awarded her title of MasterChef Champion 2013 by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. The 29-year-old from East London said: “It’s a dream come true. This is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. It’s like a fairytale really, the girl from Hackney done good.” Show judge John Torode, 47, said: “I think Natalie is destined for great things. She not only understands finery of great food but she cooks for the people, food that people want to eat. She makes people smile. And she’s not fazed by a thing.

“She also has a great palate and understands flavour combinations. Natalie’s got it, she is a very very clever woman and her food is fantastic.” Gregg Wallace, 48, added: “Natalie is an incredible talent who grew in stature day after day. I don’t think she is fully aware of how good she really is. I love her food because it comes straight form the heart. “She’s just full of surprises, she comes up with fantastic, stunningly beautiful dishes.” Natalie, who has perfected her skills cooking for her grandad , battled her way from 50 contestants through to the final where she saw off competition from Dale Williams and Larkin Cen. The trio undertook serious and life changing challenges including cooking a menu designed by two Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan, for four of the world’s greatest chefs. The final task was to prepare a three-course meal for judges John and Gregg.

Natalie’s winning menu consisted of a starter of lobster tail, accompanied by compressed fennel; a main of roast pork belly, pork tenderloin and a black pudding wuails Scotch ggg, served with a pomme puree; and a dessert of vanilla chocolate panna cotta topped with a tempered bitter chocolate tuile with caramelised pears and a trio of hazelnut crumble biscuits. Natalie, who is now planning her future in food, will first be appearing at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, along with Dale and Larkin, from June 12-16. She said: “From an early age I was brought up around food, I used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my nan – she was a fantastic cook. She came from a large northern family, so they used to make the most of what they had. She could turn nothing into something brilliant, she used to make the best corned beef hash pie.” She is also very close to her Irish granddad and has spent the last two years cooking for him which helped her to perfect her skills. She said: “I spend a lot of time with my granddad.

My nan passed away quite a few years ago and my granddad’s not much of a cook; so I just thought I’d feed him up a bit.” Natalie, whose two favourite things in life are food and music, has been working as a credit controller for 12 years and a DJ for five years, before deciding to pursue her dream of a future in cooking. She added: “I wanted to be a chef when I was 15, but then I went off the idea and wanted to be a PE teacher, then a fire fighter. But my mum said as I was good at maths, I should go and do something in finance. I’m quite good at what I do, but it’s not what I love. “I want to learn as much as possible under great chefs and possibly go into food writing once I’ve learnt a lot more about food. Depending on how good I get, my own restaurant one day would be amazing....” From the start of the series, Natalie’s simple but inspired style delivered stunning flavours and impressive dishes. Speaking on the highs and lows in the competition, Natalie said: “The low point for me was the Bond Girl challenge, it really stressed me out and sent me into a massive panic.

“Each round you learn something different about yourself and about food. “There were just some amazing experiences; things that you never thought you’d get to do. It’s definitely been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It really makes you believe that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life now.” Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Hackney DJ Natalie Coleman on winning Masterchef - BBC News BBC News Media playback is unsupported on your device Hackney DJ Natalie Coleman on winning Masterchef 3 May 2013 Last updated at 22:10 BST Masterchef champion Natalie Coleman says it "feels amazing" to have won the BBC One cooking programme competition. Judge John Torode said she was a popular winner as people could relate to her East End roots. Footage courtesy of Masterchef, BBC One. MasterChef Natalie Coleman: 2013 champion on fame, food and fans | Life | Life & Style | Daily Express 18:12, Wed, Mar 26, 2014 Natalie was a popular MasterChef champion when she took the trophy last year[BBC] Fame has been a strange – and unexpected – sensation for Natalie Coleman.

The 30-year-old won viewers’ hearts with her Cockney charm and deep dimples on last year’s MasterChef. More importantly, she won over the spoons and stomachs of judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace to take the title of 2013 champion. I’ve been on my own for eight years. At the end of the day, it’s best being single. You get stuff done MasterChef 2013 champion Natalie Coleman Week after week she served up dishes that made viewers want to dive through their TV screens with a knife and fork. Topped off by a final menu including pork belly with scotch egg and a dessert of vanilla chocolate panna cotta, no one was surprised when she was crowned the winner. No one, that is, except Natalie herself. “It has finally sunk in. Once it went on the TV it was all real,” she says. “Because it weren’t real until then. I couldn’t tell anyone, except my family.” The MasterChef format has changed over the years, with a stronger focus on contestants’ personalities and personal lives, especially come the final. But Natalie was completely unprepared for the media attention. “I didn’t think you’d get all the newspapers and stuff.

It’s massive,” she says. Natalie is only just getting used to being MasterChef champion [PH] “I just thought you’d win the competition, leave your job and get a new job and that was it. I didn’t expect the rest of it. “I was with Lou and Bev [Natalie’s agents] for two weeks and then had my first day on my own. “I burst out crying because I didn’t know what to do. And then my best mate came round and we went out for drinks and that was it. “Since then it’s been fine.” One thing she still feels uncomfortable with is posing for photo shoots. “When you have to smile I have to tell them to make me laugh because I’m not good at smiling. I look a bit like Wallace and Gromit,” she says. Many MasterChef champions, finalists and even some contestants who didn’t make it past the quarter-finals have since capitalised on the show to open restaurants. Related articles MasterChef’s John Torode and Gregg Wallace reunite with chefs for 10th anniversary show But Natalie, who packed in her job as a credit controller before competing in the cooking show, is more cautious.

She has now completed stages (unpaid internships, pronounced "star-gers") in 13 Michelin-starred kitchens, working with chefs including Michel Roux Jr, Tom Kerridge and Tom Kitchen. This May she is hoping to start working full-time in a top restaurant, though she is remaining tight-lipped as to which one. She will only press ahead with her dream of a “kitsch gastro pub” when she is completely confident about her cooking techniques across the board – which she reckons will be “in the next three to five years”. Describing her ideal eatery, she says: “It will be nice food but I don’t want that stuffy atmosphere. I want somewhere you can go and relax and eat nice food. “It will be in the East End. I wouldn’t have it anywhere else.” Natalie, who grew up in Hackney and still lives there, says her love of food comes from her family. “We always had the family round on a Sunday and my nan and mum used to always make lots of food,” she says. “My nan used to always make us cook in the kitchen when we were little, doing fairy cakes and things.

“I moved out quite young, at 18, and you can’t just eat chips, so I used to experiment.” Food consumes Natalie’s life, trumping even love. “I’m not bothered about relationships,” she shrugs. Showing off the dimples that endeared her to viewers and judges John and Gregg [PH] “I’ve been on my own for eight years. At the end of the day, it’s best being single. You get stuff done.” On last year’s show, infamously demanding Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing said that he had “lost friends” in the pursuit of his career. Says Natalie: ”I can understand exactly where he’s coming from, especially the hours he does in his kitchen. I’ve been in there. “He is right, because if you are doing that six days a week, a 10-hour day, you don’t get a chance to see anyone. “At the moment I’m struggling to find balance and see all my friends. “My friends are quite good. I could ring up tonight and say, ‘I’ve got a free evening, do you want to go out?’ And they wouldn’t mind. “But he is right.

If you are 100 per cent into it, they work 17 or 18 hour days.” With one of her many cook books [PAUL FULLER] Natalie’s MasterChef trophy sits on her bookshelf next to her 120-plus collection of cook books (“I get a bit obsessive about things”). Since her win, Natalie has gained a big Twitter following (22,400, including Jennifer Saunders and rapper Professor Green) and gets recognised regularly. “I had loads of tweets and messages. I’ve had a few marriage proposals on Twitter, but you can block them if they get too weird!” she says. “I had one that kept tweeting me for a signed photo. Why would anyone want a photo of me? “The sweetest thing, at a cooking demonstration there was this little girl called Sasha and she’d baked me this box of brownies. She had a T-shirt with my face on it saying 'Number 1 Fan'. “I felt like Gary Barlow!” Natalie has been starstruck herself – meeting queen of bakes, Mary Berry, at a food show. “I was like, ‘oh my god’,” she recalls.

“Someone said, ‘right, you can’t go near her until you calm down’. “But I got a cookery book signed by her. She wrote congratulations in it. “I didn’t really talk too much because I didn’t want to pester her. She’s a bit of a national treasure.” We predict it won’t be long until Natalie achieves a similar status. MasterChef 10 starts Wednesday, March 26 at 9pm on BBC One. Catch Natalie when she returns to help judge during the heats this week, on Thursday, March 27 at 9pm. Natalie’s first solo cook book is due for publication in October. Keep up to date on her blog, nataliecolemanchef.co.uk .

Most read in Life Natalie Coleman: 'I can't believe I won MasterChef with a scotch egg' | Television & radio | The Guardian TV and radio blog Natalie Coleman: 'I can't believe I won MasterChef with a scotch egg' MasterChef winner Natalie Coleman spills the beans about her winning meal and making John Torode yelp like cowboy Natalie Coleman … 'I screamed the kitchen down in front of John Torode because Jennifer Saunders started following me.' Photograph: BBC/PA Friday 3 May 2013 10.48 EDT First published on Friday 3 May 2013 10.48 EDT Last night, 29-year-old Londoner Natalie Coleman was crowned MasterChef champion . The part-time DJ had been a frontrunner for weeks, winning everyone over with her technical knowhow and irrepressible spirit. Her final dish last night – essentially a roast dinner and a scotch egg – was good enough to make John Torode yelp like a weird little cowboy. By MasterChef standards, that's high praise indeed. Congratulations Natalie! How many of these interviews have you done today? Thanks! I don't know how many I've done today. I've been cooking as well.

It's meant that, instead of just doing interviews, I got to actually do something that I wanted to do today. Cooking! Well done for winning with a scotch egg, too. Do you know what? I can't believe I won MasterChef with a roast dinner and a scotch egg. I wanted to do something really British, because that's what I'm all about. Scotch eggs don't get the credit they deserve. Do you know what? They're my favourite things. You know sometimes when you're out on the weekend, and you just want something just to fill that little gap? My friends go: "Nat, how can you eat scotch eggs?" and I go: "Scotch eggs are amazing!" What do you make of party eggs? Party eggs? That's all egg mayonnaise and that, isn't it? No. Full on scotch eggs. You can't beat 'em. How long have you had to keep your win a secret for? The final was filmed on 11 December, so it's been ages. It's been the hardest-kept secret I've ever kept. I've really avoided seeing my friends. My parents knew, and my granddad, but that's it.

When did you first think you had a shot at winning? I never thought that I was going to win. I never looked at it. I always thought that Larkin would win. The first time I met him, he did that mad paella dish and I thought he fell off another planet. He seemed to fall apart in the later stages, though. I don't think he fell apart. I just think nerves got the better of him, because when he's relaxed and not so stressed out, he's dangerous. People gave him a bit of stick, but he's fantastic and he shouldn't be getting any grief. Marcus Wareing was a massive knock to his confidence, but his three dishes last night? Exceptional. Marcus Wareing was a ridiculously mean judge. Was he like that all the time? We didn't even know he was there. He popped in, and then he popped out again. That was it. He came and commented, and nobody spoke to him after that. What was the last thing you cooked to eat yourself? I cooked myself a bacon bagel. I picked up some bagels from Brick Lane and put some bacon on them. I'll eat everything. Do you know what I mean? I eat scotch eggs.

That probably says it all, really. What were the best bits of your experience? You learn something different every round. Meeting John and Gregg [Wallace] . I was starstruck by them on the first day. The invention tests I really enjoyed. Cooking with Michelin-starred chefs, too. If you're cooking at that level and they're praising you, you're on the right track. What's next? A restaurant? I'm going to take a couple of days off, just to just breathe. I'm out with MasterChef for lunch now. Then I'm out with my friends tomorrow. And then I'm preparing for the BBC Good Food Show, so I'm trying out new recipes to demonstrate in June. Also, I'm getting ready to do publicity for a book that's out in October with Larkin and Dale. Will you still get time to DJ? I'm packing up the DJing. I might bring out the decks for a friend's birthday every now and again but, no, you've got to put 100% into these things and I don't want to mess up the one shot I've got at life.

During the final last night, you gained about 12,000 new followers on Twitter. We just looked at it. It's nearly 18,000 now. I'm blown away, absolutely blown away. I just screamed the kitchen down in front of John Torode because Jennifer Saunders started following me. It's been amazing. My Twitter crashed. I was at my parents, and my computer crashed. So many nice comments from all the lovely people. It's mad. And Professor Green tweeted me . I heard he was a massive MasterChef fan, which is weird for someone like him. It's amazing. Finally, I'm a crap cook. What should I make for my lunch today? Go and get yourself a big ciabatta, some bacon and some rocket. Stick some lemon juice and olive oil on the rocket, some fresh tomatoes, mix mayonnaise with a bit of mustard and have, like, a posh BLT. That'll be nice.

• MasterChef: The Finalists is out October 2013 (Absolute Press, £20) Veteran TV chef criticises embellished meals on modern cookery shows and says British home cooking must go back to basics Published: 13 May 2013 natalie coleman chef natalie coleman chef by nataliecolemanchef On the 27th May I will be hosting cookery lessons for children at Central Street Cookery School. There are two sessions morning and afternoon. It’s for local children between the ages of 8 and 16. If you would like to book your kids up contact Sofia on info@centralstreet.org to book a place. Please note places are limited and get booked up very quickly. by nataliecolemanchef Check out the video from Abigail above on youtube. Later this year i’ll be flying to Malawi to see all the amazing work that Microloan do. I’m a massive supporter of this charity and am looking forward to the challenge they are setting me…. On the 17th May tune into BBC1 to catch Deborah Meadon’s lifeline appeal for Microloan.

You can read more about Microloan on their site HERE by nataliecolemanchef What a fantastic celebration had in Trafalgar Square last month. Also had a few surprise visitors from this years MasterChef too. Check out some snaps from the Mayor of London’s Feast of St George HERE by nataliecolemanchef I’m so thrilled to announce that I’ve just been made an Ambassador of Central Street Cookery School. I’ll be getting more involved in lessons for children and new schemes within the school. I was asked by Sofia early on in the year and can now finally announce it. Read the interview that I did with Sofia HERE To find more about the work that Sofia and the team do at St Luke’s visit their website HERE

Question: Natalie Coleman won which TV competition in 2013?
Answer: Masterchef